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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

I'm going to be using quite a bit of Dyson's Delves soon, so I want to alter the treasure schema some, so there is weirder stuff than the traditional pieces of electrum and golden necklaces.

When adventurers in New Londinium stumble on a cache of commodities, roll a d6 to determine its size and quality. The d6 can explode (reroll on a 6) a number of times equal to the party's average level, the floor of the dungeon it is on, or the level of the monster guarding it, whichever you think is most appropriate. Certain buyers will pay more than the default value, but players have to track them down.

What's It Worth?

250 sp

500 sp

750 sp

1,000 sp

1,500 sp

2,000 sp

Once you have determined quality, a d6 twice to find out what is actually in the cache. 1. Metallurgy: precious substances used by the smiths and artisans of Albion

Hardened Flame

Clarified Water

Rare Earth

Reified Aether

Sublimated Darkness

Immortal Blood

2. Cosmetics: coveted by the fops and fine ladies of New Londinium

Cream of Shoggoth

Spawn of Shub-Niggurath ichor

Spawn of Shub-Niggurath sap

Imp fat

Deep One bile

Refined Protoplasm

3. Medicaments and Prophylactics: treasured by hypochondriacs and the credulous

Mummia

Brain mummia

Transylvanian decoction

tincture of Dis

angel tears

Murderer's Last Breath

4. Delicacies and Confections: sought by only by gourmands with jaded palates and strong stomachs

Lotus nectar (black)

dinosaur steak

Spawn of Shub-Niggurath fruit

deactivated pudding (dolm)

demon flesh

Deep One liver

5. Textiles and Adornments: beloved by the tailors of New Londinium' Silken Avenue

Jungle Ant Carapace

Dinosaur Leather

Angel Feathers

Lotus Pigment

Fairy-silk

Demon Ivory

6. Liquor and Drugs: proprietors of New Londinium's salons and opium dens would quite literally kill for a supply of these

Friday, April 4, 2014

You are in Albion, where the Romans never left,
the pagans never died, and the aristocracy keeps their sterling silver sacrificial daggers in the
cupboard next to the fine china. The city of New Londinium, the oldest, grandest, and most horrible city in the world reaches over the horizon far to the west, but you are in Greyshire, a provincial little town known only
for the quality of its cheese, the restlessness of its dead, and the large
number of barrows, ruins, dungeons, and oubliettes that fill the countryside
around it.

Dame Aggorath, Chief of the Knights Squamous, has contacted you with a job offer. A recent washout has exposed
tunnels beneath Rope Crown Hill, a site of ill repute several miles from town, and
several scholars have vanished exploring them. Bring back a report on what is
happening there (along with compelling evidence), and you will be generously
remunerated.

+

Cast the Dice

When you try something risky or difficult, sum 2d6 and add
an attribute based on the action you’re taking. Your success is
determined by the total of your dice roll.

Wisdom
(Wis): Perception,
sanity, foresight, affinity for spirits and gods, and ability to resist the
effects of magic.

Charisma
(Cha): Attractiveness,
force of personality, and ability to be persuasive.

Step 2:Calculate Hit Dice and HP

You have HD equal to 1+Con+Half level.
When you rest, reroll your HD to determine your maximum HP. If you rest
comfortably, set a single HD to 6. If you eat a satisfying meal, set another HD
to 6.

Step 3: Pick a Skills

Pick one of the following:

Burglary: disable locks and traps
and pick pockets

Bushcraft: hunt, track, identify
flora and fauna

Linguistics: learn languages

Lore: recall esoteric and
forbidden knowledge

Medicine: revive the fallen and
restore the ill

Repair: fix and maintain armor,
tools, weapons, and devices

Step 4: Pick a talent

Hawkeye: Add your level to
ranged weapon damage rolls

English Magic:
You start with any 2 1st level spells from the MU or Cleric LotFP lists
(though I am only using the general gist of the spell descriptions).
You can learn any number of spells, but you must first find them. You
can cast any spell you know as much as you like, but magic is dangerous and
unpredictable. Rolls generally involve Int.

Glamour:
You can change your appearance and turn into creatures
who height or length is equal to or less than twice your level in feet,
but particularly subtle or potent transformations may not succeed. Rolls generally involve Cha.

Pact: You have made a deal with one of the great gods, demons, or fairies of Albion. You can call on them to use magic pertaining to one of their domains as much as you like, but the consequences of offending them or failing to control their power is dire. You gain an additional related domain every even level. Rolls generally involve Wis.

Prodigy: Every level,
you gain an additional skill of your choice.

Prowess: Add your level to melee
weapon damage rolls.

Step 5: Pick a bloodline

Briton:You
are from one of the chieftaincies beyond the grasp of New Londinium's
rulers. Your people made pacts with the spirits of the wild long ago;
you can roll Wisdom to speak with animals.

Changeling: You are descended from a true fairy. You cannot lie or
break promises directly. Any oaths sworn to you cannot be broken.

Deep One:You are descended from one of the marine monstrosities from far beneath Albion's seas and lakes. As you are some sort of hybrid between fish and human (the specifics of how this looks is up to you), you can move with equal speed through water and over land, and you can breathe underwater.

Nephilim: You are descended from
the race of giants born when exiled angels bred with humans. You are 6-8 feet tall. Whenever you roll
your Hit Dice, add 6 to the total.

New Londoner: Your
exposure to the radioactive knowledge-goddess Gloriana has given you a
talent for chasing gristly secrets. When you study a fallen enemy, you
learn a single fact or secret about
their kind.

Roman: The
Empire's rich tradition of poorly conceived sorcerous experiments not only deposited ancient Britain into the middle of Carcosa, but infused all of its citizens with a lingering taint of undeath. You can cast Speak with Dead.

Tiefling:You are descended from one of the soldiers that took part in Hell's semi-successful invasion attempt a century ago. You can create and throw small flames at will.

Step 6: Items

You start with 6 items. You can choose a number of them equal to 1+Cha. The rest are randomly determined. You may do the random rolls before you choose.

1. Weapons

Hatchet, 1 hand, d6+1 damage

Spear, 2 hands, d6+1 damage, reach range

Great-axe, 2 hands, d6+2 damage

Shortbow, 2 hands, d6 damage, with 10
arrows

Longbow, 2 hands, d6+1 damage, with 5
arrows

Rifle, 2 hands, d6+2 damage, 4 bullets,
very loud

2. Armor

Armor weighs you down, and you can wear
just 1+STR pieces at once. Each reduces damage taken by 1.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

So Throne is an angel of questionable sanity and reaching ambition, the leader of a desperate host on a radiation-scoured, magic-riddled hell-planet that is partially occupied by the forces of Hell. He says he is embarking on a Project, which will transform Carcosa into Eden and restore the Grigori to the heavens. Others say his Project will turn him into a tinpot godling, while other say it will once and for all wipe out all (un)life on Carcosa, while others say his real Project is even more glorious than what he says it is, while other say there is no project at all, while...

The main thing is that it is hard to tell who's good, who's bad, who's sane, who's in the know, and who's lying. Reinforcing that is this handy random table, which will provide a confusing background to the party's active interaction with angels, demons, and other factions who may or may not have a stake in the Project's outcome.

When the players attract the attention of angels or their
enemies, there is a 50% chance of one of the following occurring sometime during a session. If the
rolled event seems improbable or impossible, work it in anyway. NPCs and
monsters will never acknowledge any conspiracy character or event under any
circumstances. Particularly stupid NPCs might seem unsettled in their presence.
The conspiracy NPCs will not appear in front of anything truly powerful, like a
god or fairy-lord. Conspiracy NPCs never interact with other NPCs or their
environment, except through the party. Depending on their nature, they might show up when rolled even if previously dead or imprisoned.

1. The Lady
in Red

She tends in to blend in with her environment—shell be
dressed as an aristocrat in a high class neighborhood, as a prisoner in
dungeons, as a traveler on the road—but her clothes are always red.

There is no Throne. It’s really just Something Else hiding
its true nature for its own inscrutable(r) purposes.

You need to listen.
The Others will make her do this over and over until you get it right. Await further
instructions.

The last person the party talked to is actually an agent of
the so-called Grigori. Kill them.

One of The Others' most dangerous enemies is hunting you. He wears
yellow, and he has killed before.

She has broken free from the control of the Others! They are evil and
the Grigori are good. You must disregard all of her previous instructions.

no, no, NO.
The last time you met her was her evil twin. You must ignore all her previous
statements.

2. The Man in
Yellow

He operates identically to the Lady in
Red, but he is always in yellow clothes.

He can hear the Angels. They don’t know he can hear them, be
he can. Hear them, that is. They are planning something terrible.

Don’t drink the water. It’s filled with the Angel’s poison.
You’ll believe anything they tell you if you drink it.

Always cover up your windows. The Angels like to watch you
sleep.

There is a child in black, who draws strange things. They
know what’s going on, but that doesn’t mean you can trust them.

There is a terrible Engine deep beneath the capital. If you
destroy it, the Angels’ plans will be for naught.

He violently attacks the party, saying he can see the Angels
inside them.

Is standing over a chalk picture of a man and woman, both in
suits. There is a stylized eye drawn above each of their heads.

Is standing over a chalk picture of an angel with two faces.
One is angry, while the other is smiling.

Is standing over a chalk picture of a figure seated on a
throne. He has no face.

Is standing over a chalk picture of a burning gate with many
hands reaching out of it.

Is standing over the following message, written in chalk, “THE RING HAS FOR YEARS BEEN SYMBOLIC OF ALL GYNO EDUCATE
AND HYDRATE AND ESCAPE OUR ENFETTERMENT AS THE INDIGO CLOUDS RISE OVER THE
ZENITH INTO THE ARCHIPELAGO OF OUR CERTAIN DREAMS AND WE WILL ESCAPE THE
BOUNDLESS RIVER OF AZRAELS SACRED JEWELRY*.”

Is standing over the following message, written in chalk, “THIS NEW DAY IN THE PRIMARY AGE OF SUBTERFUGE GENDER WILL
BE CONFOUNDED AND SEX WILL NO LONGER BE THE HEGEMONIC SPRING OF LIFE NO LOVE IS
THE BLACK DEATH THAT HAS INFECTED US TO OUR VERY CORE WE ONCE NEVER SUCCUMBED
TO THE LUSH GRAYNESS OF SLEEP THE ZOAS ARE OUR ONE HOPE*.”

4. Richard
and Eleanor

They are polite, aristocratic, slightly condescending. They offer you cigarettes with immaculately gloved hands. They are both
dressed in fine suits of black silk. Their expressions are impassive, and while they always stand next to each other, they never quite
touch.

“We do so
appreciate your work. Will you accept a token of our esteem?” They offer the
party a briefcase containing a single random angelic weapon.

“Don’t bother reading that dreadful graffiti. It’s simply
hellish.”

“You didn’t hear it from me, but there’s an angel sniffing
around. Take care. Wouldn’t want to get caught up in anything compromising, now
would we?” An angel of a random Sphere is now pursuing the party as if they had
stolen its weapon.

During a fight or confrontation, Richard and Eleanor watch
the party through a shared pair of opera glasses, preferably from a great
distance or difficult to reach location. They applaud if the party does well.

“Hmm. It seems they’ll let just anyone in here these days.
Watch out for the riff raff” As soon as Richard and Eleanor are out of sight, a
powerful demon attacks the party.

“How we hate to see you struggle.” Richard and Eleanor hand
the party a key. It will open the next locked door they encounter.

5. The Grafitti

It will appear on any flat surface. Always dripping red
paint.

THRONE IS SHIT

FUK THE GRIGORi

WE WATCHING U BUT WE ARN’T WATCHERS

ANGEL’S WIL KILL U

WE R GOING TO EAT UR BONES

SEE YOU SOON

6. The
Pedestrians

Random passers-by in crowds. If there are none of those,
then adapt the event for humanoid monsters or animals.

Make an elaborate hand-signal while making eye contact with
a member of the party

Say “The Watchers are watching” over and over again under
their breath.

For a moment, their eyes and mouth burn gold and white.

Lift their hands, revealing wings tattooed onto their palms.
They will not be there if you look again.

Steadily staring at the party as they walk past. Their neck
will rotate up to 180 degrees to facilitate this.